"At first I thought, 'What went in Back Bay and died?' " said North Street resident John Harvey, about the smell emanating from the city's main sewage treatment facility. Photos by Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

For months, residents of Munjoy Hill have contended with a persistent stench wafting from the city’s main sewage treatment plant in the East End.

People have resorted to sleeping through hot summer nights with the windows firmly shut. Others have opted to spend free time in other parts of the city to escape the noxious fumes.

But the 36-year-old system has trouble getting enough oxygen into the tanks, so bacteria continue to devour waste, but emit noxious gases such as hydrogen sulfide, said Scott Firmin, director of wastewater services.

The plant is also running at reduced capacity. Normally, it has three aeration tanks to handle wastewater. Currently, the treatment plant is running one new tank installed in August and one old tank.

Inadequate aeration of sewage in open tanks at the East End Wastewater Treatment Plant coincided with the year’s warmest and most humid months. Finishing an $11.4 million upgrade is the only way to control the odors that have plagued many Portland residents this summer, says the Portland Water District’s director of wastewater services. Derek Davis/Staff Photographer

The third tank is offline while contractors finish construction of a replacement. At reduced capacity, the facility has a hard time dealing with normal increases in flow.

“If we had three tanks on right now, we wouldn’t be getting odors on this level,” Firmin said.

The district is directing as much sewage flow into the new tank as possible and will install extra aeration equipment on the old tank next week in an effort to control the smell.

But finishing the upgrade is the only way to control the odors, Firmin said. The district’s contractors expect the second new tank to be complete by December, and intend to work through the winter to have the third online by next spring, Firmin said.

“I know to somebody concerned about odor, that seems like a long time,” he said. “I assure you we are doing everything, our engineer is doing everything, our contractor is doing everything, to keep this project moving along while doing it properly.”

SPIKE IN COMPLAINTS

The water district has received 83 odor complaints since mid-June. It received only 25 complaints in the same period last year, according to water district figures. This summer’s complaints spiked at the end of July and in early August. Complaints rolled in again in mid-August, when one of the tanks was drained and solids were removed, Firmin said.

And complaints have surged again in the past two weeks, without a clear explanation. There were 16 complaints to the water district last week and more than a dozen submitted to the city of Portland’s online complaint service. A number of factors, including humidity, high temperatures and changes in wind direction, can exacerbate odors, but Firmin said he isn’t sure exactly what’s to blame for the recent problem.

“For some reason, in the last week or so, we’re getting an uptick in the number of complaints and I’ve noticed an increase of odors,” Firmin said.

There was no hint of stench in the air Thursday afternoon on Munjoy Hill, although residents doubted the relief would last long. Many weren’t even sure where it was coming from, or if it was a permanent part of the neighborhood.

Once known as a rough, working-class neighborhood, Munjoy Hill has become one of Portland’s most desirable places to live. That has coincided with new condominium developments, expensive home restoration projects and soaring rents.

Andrew Crust moved to Portland’s East End from Montreal two weeks ago, and the smell was one of the first things he noticed. It hasn’t ruined his time in the city, but it did make him wonder about his new home.

“I wondered, is that a normal smell?” he said.

This isn’t the first time the wastewater treatment plant has produced offensive smells in the neighborhood. In 2012, the water district hired a consultant to examine odor at the plant after a wave of complaints that summer. But based on the volume of complaints, this might be one of the smelliest summers in recent memory.

John Harvey, who lives in Munjoy Commons, thought the smell this year was something unique.

“At first I thought, ‘What went in Back Bay and died?’ ” Harvey said. There have been times when he’s woken up in the middle of the night because of the smell invading his bedroom.

“When the wind blows the right way, the next thing you know the whole apartment smells,” he said.

He’s also frustrated with the pace of progress at the plant, and said the water district’s contractors should be working faster to get it fixed.

AT THE WIND’S MERCY

Brandon Sweeney: “We expect the smell of saltwater, ocean, and we get this.”

According to residents, the smell comes and goes. It can be intolerable for a day or two, then ease, only to come back with a vengeance when the wind changes.

Brandon Sweeney and Brittany Buotte said they, like the rest of the neighborhood, have been dealing with the smell all summer, but it has gotten worse in the past two weeks.

“I’ve had to close my windows at night,” Sweeney said. “We expect the smell of saltwater, ocean, and we get this.”

It seems wherever he goes in the neighborhood, the smell is bad, Sweeney said. He’s taken to spending a lot of time away from the hill to escape it.

Buotte, who lives on the West End of the city, said she notices the stench every time she comes to Munjoy Hill. “You can almost taste it,” she said.

Despite the problem, Sweeney is not thinking about moving out. “As long as they are working on it, that’s fine with me,” he said.

Kristi Zarrilli: “It’s not something you can sit comfortably with.”

Kristi Zarrilli moved into her Melbourne Street apartment in July, and noticed the reek immediately. “It is horrible, it’s not something you can sit comfortably with,” she said.

Still, considering everything else Munjoy Hill has going for it, Zarrilli is willing to deal with some smelly nights and just hopes someone fixes the problem.

“I like Portland too much to leave. Everything is perfect, minus the smell you get,” she said.

Correction: This story was updated at 8:55 a.m. on Friday, Sept. 9, 2016, to correct the type of gas emitted by wastewater.

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dwawe

It’s not the sewage that stinks, but the mural. As soon as the governor is painted over, the air will clear. Just watch. That stink will go away in a heartbeat.

BHShaman

Beat me to it. People going to try and find the mural, smell bad things, find a way to complain.

Sad2C

The smell is also over in So Portland near Millcreek from that plant. To answer the question — does it always smell like this? Not always, but often enough…and planes fly overhead too.

axion56

People are not realizing that much of this smell is temporarily caused by a necessary reduction in filtration due to construction work ! The plant is not currently running at full capacity / efficiency .

lost sheep

“The plant is not currently running at full capacity / efficiency .”

You have to remember that most of these peoples brains are not running “at full capacity” either.

shooter777

Just like someone who builds a home next to a golf course and then complains about beaters bombarding them with wayward shots, or individuals buying a home next to and airport or on an inbound or departing flight path and complaining about the noise from the engines. Better yet, exactly like the home owners in CE complaining about the rifle range abutting their property. Why did they think this property was never developed years ago ?

theophiluser

If it was next to your house you’d probably be first in line to complain with tears in your eyes and waving a hanky.

shooter777

I wouldn’t buy a place by the water plant like I wouldn’t buy one on the flight path to and from an airport or next to a golf course. Hyatt Place and Portland Harbor Hotel complained about the noise in the Old Port at closing time……they think this noise started AFTER they decided to move into the area?

smosh

so the fact that there -is- a problem they’re working on means nothing? The smell is out of the range of ‘normal’.

Note that when people are informed PWD is fixing it, they seem ok and hope the work moves along. Sounds pretty tolerant to me.

lost sheep

“Why did they think this property was never developed years ago ?”

hehe 😉

shooter777

Totally agree. How’s the view from the deck of all those $600,000 condos !

CleanupME

The dry, hot, weather we’ve had this summer will make the smell worse.

theophiluser

Since the plant was designed to handle stormwater in addition to raw sewage under dry conditions it should operate at less than maximum capacity.

ShipShape

My understanding is that in droughty conditions, and because more and more storm water is being removed from the system, the district has to add drinking water to the plant from time to time to attempt to keep it on balance.

theophiluser

In South Florida they pump treated sewage into the aquifer which supplies drinking water to counter drought conditions.

lost sheep

I think the dryness is actually helpful for a few reasons. The hot is definitely not helpful. The humidity is bad. Really not helpful.

JJFW

This is nothing. Imagine if it had been a rainy summer with far more sewage??
This is Portland water district at their finest. They have a reputation for doing whatever they want and the citizens don’t matter. Just ask everyone in Standish when they seized the boat ramp to Senago Lake from standish.
Portland Water District is another Inland Fisheries….. A giant government organization that does whatever it wants.

Sorry to the folks on Munjoy hill. Get used to what big selfish government does.

ShipShape

Do you mean the big selfish government that is responsible for providing clean potable water to around 250,000 people ? They don’t hoard the water selfishly AFAIK.

Well I like that they stopped to interview and take a picture of Captain Jack Sparrow on a bicycle.

AmusedInMaine

Sometimes progress stinks. So here’s a suggestion: Halt the sewage treatment system upgrades so that the complainers’ delicate noses can get the relief they want. Then, when the system fails and they can’t flush their toilets they’ll have something really worth complaining about, and the smell of progress won’t have seemed so bad.

HalseyTaylor

It’s actually a credit to engineering that all this sewage can be treated to a point where it can be discharged into Portland Harbor without ill effect.

Midwinter

Free tissues will be provided to the residents of high end condos on the hill until the upgrade project is complete.

To get your free box, head down to the plant and the lead engineer on the project will provide one box to you.

Your welcome 🙂

Goose

“Fumes”! What a clever pun. I would have titled the article “Hipsters Living in East End in $h!tty Situation.”

axion56

Please people , be realistic about this odor issue . It is a temporary ” problem ” caused by necessary updating to a 36 yr old facility . Short term , more than normal smell is being caused by the Plant not currently running at full capacity , only at 75% +/- . Warm and dry summer months may be adding to the issue .

Interesting to me that many of the complaints quoted were from people that have only lived on The Hill for a very short time … one guy two weeks !! These people have no concept of how much nicer this area is . $ million houses or condos were unheard of not long ago . The working class that once lived there can no longer afford it . If the current residents can’t please be patient while a little construction is taking place , ask how the aroma once was when S.D, Warren was at full capacity !

Mark Usinger

The aroma from S.D. Warren was fondly known there as the “smell of money”.

TheSage

Surely the real estate sales people warned buyers about this while selling their $600,000 “condos”; formerly known as “apartments”.

countyboy2

Oh the sweet smell of liberalism get use to it !!

thesheeplewillhavetheirsay

It has nothing do with the sewage plant.
That is the stench of communism.

PortlandResident12

Good thing these people didn’t live here when good ‘ol Pine State Byproducts was around. Now that was a stench!!

JJFW

Love my septic tank and well. No smell, far less expensive….and no pensions to fund too…

morn’joe

Well I guess the city will just have to move it away ….

Black

I think they’re trying to do some repairs and upgrades while the beautiful people keep flushing the toilet. Kinda like repairing your car engine while you’re doing 80 on the Maine Turnpike

EastEnd87

You can make jabs all you want, but if you happen to live on the East End (hipster and whatever predictable political jokes aside), you’d understand how much this sucks. Obviously it’s a temporary problem. No one is saying that they don’t realize that the problem is temporary…Doesn’t mean the stench doesn’t repeatedly wake you up at night.

axion56

I think we all have to deal with short term construction projects . I’m sure the city is attempting to do this much needed updating improvement as quickly and in the least ” annoying ” way possible . I’ve heard I-295 construction work taking place at night from my house , I had to sacrifice a bit .We all have to give and take a little .